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Filming for Season 3 of the beloved BBC series, which devotees expected to begin in January 2013, has been delayed to March, EW reports.

Production has been reportedly been postponed due to the demanding schedules of Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) and Martin Freeman‘s (John Watson), now full-fledged movie stars. Freeman has the leading role in “The Hobbit,” while Cumberbatch is playing the hyped villain in “Star Trek 2.”

Freeman probably deserves a break after a relentless publicity tour for “The Lord of the Rings” sequel, premiering this week in New Zealand, and Cumberbatch no doubt is simply exhausted. Being that awesome is hard work, people!

However, the BBC insists that the January start date has “always been speculation”:

“We have never confirmed which months we are filming,” a BBC source tells Zap2it. “We are shooting and transmitting in 2013. That’s all we have ever said — any other specific weeks have always been speculation.

“From the U.K. point of view we will still film and transmit in 2013 as planned.”.

PBS has not announced when “Sherlock” will air in the United States, but according to EW, it could be as late as (gulp) 2014.